Monthly Archives: February 2011

It is telling that despite campaign promises to the contrary, the Obama administration hasn’t held the previous administration accountable for their abuses of power, has not rescinded the Orwellian practices of detention without trial, has sent even more troops to the Middle East, renewed the “Patriot Act”, went along with a bailout bill for greedy, irresponsible bankers over the strenuous objections of the voters and members of Congress, and kept all the Wall Street profiteers in key advisory positions. It appears that the same power brokers are pulling the strings, regardless of who is the governmental figurehead.

I would suggest that both the right and left wing are correct in their assessment that big government and big business are the problem as they are in league with each other and may even, as some fear, become an indistinguishable monolithic power. The ultra-rich 2% can afford to hire lobbyists but can we? With the rapid disappearance of the middle class and our civil rights, we are becoming an impoverished slave class.

The alarming levels of corruption of government by corporate influence and the banking industry must be addressed if we are to reclaim our democracy. We can start by rescinding the recent disastrous Supreme Court Citizens United decision that allows corporations to buy elections, pass the Fair Elections Now Act that imposes campaign spending limits, and pass legislation to end the revolving door between government regulatory agencies and corporate lobbying, among many other reforms, in order to reclaim government by and for the people.